Just starting out-need help with buying a lens

[GodsGirl]

Yesterday I purchased a used Canon EOS Rebel Ti.  Of course it came with no lens.  The guy at the camera shop gave me two lens types to google.

Canon EOS EFS 75-300 mm

Canon 85 mm F1.8

When I goodle these names I get all sorts of lenses, some say EOS some say EF some say EF-S some say DSLR (does this matter?  My camera is not Digital it is a 35 mm Film Camera)  I am so confused I don't want to buy a lens that will not fit.  I don't know what all of this means???

Is DSLR mean a digital camera?

Does SLR mean only a manual Film Camera?

What did i buy?

Can you please help me?  I need a lens but the correct lens.  To make it worse, I am in a budget of $100 or below. 

Thanks and many blessings to all of you...

[Tronhard]

Hi

I am curious why you went a bought a camera not knowing anything about the camera, or indeed it would seem about photography in general.  What are your intentions?

Learning something about photography should be your priority, if you intend to make the best use of your camera and invest your money wisely.  If you belong to your local library, go to the on-line catalogue and look for lynda.com.  If it exists click on it to access this website, which is a treasure trove of excellent videos on many subjects, but in this case photography.  If you get into the site I recommend starting Introduction to Photography - do a search for it.

Another thing to do is join a local camera club or photographic society.  Most people will be happy to share their knowledge.

That said, to answer your questions:

You bought a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR).   It's about a 9 year old unit, so I hope you didn't pay much for it.

While the camera body might be older it is still capable of taking decent photographs if you put a decent lens on it.  What lens you buy depends a lot on what you intend to photograph, but I shall give you a couple of suggestions.  I must first note that if you intend to take up photography then getting good lenses is important because they will often outlive your camera: i.e. you may upgrade the camera but still use the same lens.

I would suggest seeking the Canon EF-S 18-135 IS STM lens.   It will cover the range for general photography (everything from close-ups of flowers and insects, through portraits to shots of more distant objects), and is a good lens.  I would not recommend the 18-55 and 75-300 lenses.  Together they will probably cost you as least as much as the lens I recommend and they are not as good.  Furthermore you will have one lens to carry around without having to change between two.  You can get them second hand or refurbished (more reliable) from Canon.

If you decide later that you want to take pictures of very distant objects, like wildlife, then I would suggest the Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM, it's an excellent lens and you can get them second-hand at a reasonable price.

[GodsGirl]

Tronhard, thank you very much for your reply.  I had taken a very old Cannon AE-1 into our local camera shop (we only have 1) to be sent off for repair.  I do not remember what was wrong with it but the quote to fix it was the same price of the used Canon Rebel EOS Ti was.  Both $90.  I decided to wait on fixing the old camera and I bought the Rebel.

I do have basic knowledge, very basic of photography.  I would like to get more into because when I'm sitting in a deer blind I enjoy taking pictures of the wildlife.  I have not touched a 35 mm camera in years I usually I have little digitial, auto focus point and shoot with me.  I have discovered I want to be more in control of my photos, I want to learn more.  So thus, the $90 on the used 35 mm.  I am also looking forward to my beginners photography class in September and I needed a 35 mm thus the search for the lens.  At this moment I just want something to learn on.  In the future if I find that I am still very into this hobby (post stroke) and I'm still feeling well, I will begin in invest in better equipment.  All that I am learning is exciting and I am finding joy in it, and hope to continue to do so.

Thank you again for your reply.  I truly appreciate it.

Blessings...

[Tronhard]

I am sorry to learn about your stoke and sincerely wish you speedy and complete recovery.  As for the advice, you are welcome, and I wish you every success with your journey into photography.

 I really recommend the lynda.com website's camera courses, they are presented extremely well by professionals and they cover an enormous range of topics.  More libraries are offering free access to the website via their on-line catalogues, and I hope that yours is one of them.

Another place of positive learning is a website called cambridgeincolour.com.  It is based in the UK and has members from all over the world and across many levels and genres of photography.  The experienced members (and some are truly experts) are very happy to share their knowledge, and trolling is not allowed.  They also have learning materials on their website as well.

[RobertTheFat]

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@Tronhard wrote:

Hi

I am curious why you went a bought a camera not knowing anything about the camera, or indeed it would seem about photography in general.  What are your intentions?

Learning something about photography should be your priority, if you intend to make the best use of your camera and invest your money wisely.  If you belong to your local library, go to the on-line catalogue and look for lynda.com.  If it exists click on it to access this website, which is a treasure trove of excellent videos on many subjects, but in this case photography.  If you get into the site I recommend starting Introduction to Photography - do a search for it.

Another thing to do is join a local camera club or photographic society.  Most people will be happy to share their knowledge.

That said, to answer your questions:

You bought a digital single lens reflex camera (DSLR). ... 

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No, Google it. The Rebel Ti is a film camera.

[GodsGirl]

Does that mean SLR NOT DSLR?

[Tronhard]

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@GodsGirl wrote:

Does that mean SLR NOT DSLR?

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SLR is a single lens reflex film camera.  A DSLR is a Digital SLR, i.e. no film.

[Tronhard]

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@GodsGirl wrote:

Does that mean SLR NOT DSLR?

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Bob's right... you bought a film camera.  The Rebel series is a North American branding, and I live in New Zealand - it gets confusing for us sometimes!

[RobertTheFat]

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@GodsGirl wrote:

Does that mean SLR NOT DSLR?

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Yes. "DSLR" stands for "Digital Single-Lens Reflex". A single-lens reflex is a camera whose viewfinder uses the same lens that the camera uses to take the picture. A digital single-lens reflex uses a digital sensor and a digital recording medium, rather than light-sensitive film, to capture the image.

[Tronhard]

I misread the Ti for the T1, which on my part of the planet is the EOS 500D!

I understand that the lens mount on your film camera is an EF (35mm) mount, so the 18-135 won't work for you as it is an EF-S mount (designed for APS and APS-C) format cameras.  The 70-300 I mentioned SHOULD fit your camera but it is a full telephoto lens and that may not work for your camera course, even if it fits into your preference for wildlife photography it's probably a way down the track economically.

I think you will have to go back to the archives a bit to find a decent lens at $100 or less.  But basically you are looking for a lens with a Canon EF mount.

My advice about lynda.com and the cambridgeincolour.com sites still holds true though, the basic principles of photography are shared by both digital and film media.